Synthesis and Characterization of Polysulfone (PSU)/Philippine Halloysite (PH-HAL) Nanostructured Membrane via Electrospinning

Abstract

Membrane technology is widely used in many separation processes because of its multi-disciplinary characteristics. One of the techniques that is used in the fabrication of membranes is the electrospinning process which can create nanofibers from a very wide range of polymeric materials. In this study, electrospun nanostructured fibrous composite membranes of polysulfone (PSU), commercial halloysite (COM-HAL), and Philippine halloysite (PH-HAL) were synthesized. The concentrations of COM-HAL and PH-HAL were both varied from 0.5%, 1%, and 2%. The FTIR results showed that there were changes in the intensity of the PSU-IR spectra which confirmed the presence of COM-HAL and PH-HAL in the synthesized membranes. The SEM revealed that nanofibers can be successfully produced by the addition of LiCl salt in PSU with varying HAL concentrations. Also, it was observed that the addition of HAL with varying concentrations have no significant effect on wettability due to the strong hydrophobic character of the PSU membrane. Moreover, it was found from the analysis of mechanical properties that the tensile strength of the membranes weakened by the addition of HAL due to its weak interaction with PSU.